Conventional powered door operators, such as garage door operators, include a motor and drive train assembly for moving the door. When the motor is energised (under control of the electronic controller of the operator), the drive train drives the door between its limit positions, i.e. between set open and closed positions. For security reasons, when the motor is turned off, it remains engaged with the garage door via the drive train, and the operator or its drive is designed to provide a locking function (e.g. through the use of a worm gear drive in the drive train, which prevents back driving). This serves to inhibit unauthorised movement of the garage door and thereby prevent unwanted opening.
However in some situations it is not sufficient to rely solely on the locking mechanism or function of the operator to securely lock a door. For example, in the case of roller garage doors, a certain degree of free rotation is possible if the door is forced open, as a portion of the door curtain wound on the stationary axle drum can partially unroll before further movement is prevented. This may be sufficient in some situations to allow entry. In the case of an overhead garage door, such as a sectional or tilt-up door, attempting to force open the door (e.g. by using a crowbar between the lower edge of the closed door and the ground) can cause deformation of one or more parts of the drive mechanism (such as to the door drive linkage or to the drive track), which can similarly result in unauthorised access risk. For security reasons, such a degree of movement for a door is not acceptable.
In other situations, the locking function of the operator or its drive may be unreliable or faulty, e.g. due to wear and tear. In these situations, it may be possible for an intruder to lift up a closed garage door even when it appears to be safely locked.
Whilst manual mechanical locking systems for closure assemblies are known, these can be of limited use, or can be less then reliable or difficult to maintain and/or install. Further, the user wishing to open the door needs to make the additional actions required to lock and unlock the door (such as getting out of her car), which is a significant inconvenience, meaning the door will often be simply left unlocked. Electrically powered locks are also known, which may operate under control of the user or automatically under control of the operator controller, but have generally had limited adoption.
Further, wireless locking systems with independent power supply are also known, which avoid the need for electrical connection. However, these have generally met with limited success, as communication between a controller and known wireless locks can present various problems with regard to reliability, power consumption and signal interference.
WO 99/53161 teaches a remote controlled door lock, with a controller with an RF receiver which alternates between a wake mode and a sleep mode in order to conserve battery life. The controller is programmed to awake at regular intervals, check for an RF signals sent from a remote transmitter, move the lock bolt if a properly coded instruction sequence is received, and revert to sleep mode if not.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,054 also teaches a remote controlled door lock which includes one or more key-operated deadbolts and in which, as an additional security measure, when the deadbolts are unlocked it is necessary to use a remote control device to allow door latch release.
It is desirable to provide an improved control system for lock assemblies which overcomes or ameliorates one or more of the disadvantages or problems of the conventional art described above, or which at least provides the consumer with a useful choice.
In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date: (a) part of common general knowledge; or (b) known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.